Existing dual polarization (dual-pol.) embodiments of Balanced Antipodal Vivaldi Antenna (BAVA) radiating elements for ESA apertures require two orthogonal BAVA radiating elements, e.g., a horizontal linearly polarized element (HP) along with a vertical linearly polarized element (VP). These two BAVA elements together create a composite dual-polarized radiating element whose phase centers are not physically coincident. This dual-polarization BAVA unit cell allows the creation of arbitrary radiation polarization, i.e., right hand circular polarization (RHCP), left hand circular polarization (LHCP), arbitrary elliptical polarization and arbitrarily inclined (slant) linear polarization (SLP).
The above described BAVA radiating element pair creates ESA system complexity due to the non-coincident phase center issue. Time delay is required between the two orthogonal elements of each element pair to realize broadband and pure RHCP or LHCP. Further, the non-planar locations of the VP and HP elements of each BAVA radiating element pair add interconnect complexity, which is a challenge for electrically large ESAs that may require multiple thousands of radiating elements. The invention as described herein effectively allows the HP element and the VP element on the dual-polarization BAVA pair to be very nearly physically coincident.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide a solution which addresses the problems associated with currently available solutions.